The present invention relates to an instruction input system for an electronic processor and, more particularly, to an instruction input system for a processor in which interactive communication is performed between a user and a computer. The present invention can be applied to a processor having a text processing function (such as a wordprocessor and a personal computer) and to an electronic processor having a graphic processing function.
Various conventional instruction input systems capable of performing interactive communication between a user and a computer are known. For example, as a medium or a port which enables communication between the user and the computer, keyboards, CRTs, plasma displays, and the like are widely used.
A problem of the user interface has been a major problem for a number of years, and hence has been investigated and developed with unceasing efforts, with the result that many effective user interfaces have been introduced. However, a versatile user interface has yet to be developed, so that further efforts will be required in this regard.
One of the various user interface problems is how a user or an operator can easily input necessary information and instructions, especially complex ones, to a computer, i.e., a problem of operability.
Conventional techniques have not yet found a satisfactory solution to this problem.
A wordprocessor will be exemplified to explain the above problem in greater detail. When a wordprocessor is used to perform edit processing (such as delete, insert, replace, and frame operations in conjunction with a text), unless a user specifies the type of instruction and the precise area where the designated instruction is to be executed, the wordprocessor cannot select the necessary processing and hence cannot execute processing, with the result that the user's request cannot be satisfied.
For this reason, in conventional wordprocessors, personal computers, and the like, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,777 issued Mar. 6, 1984 , in order to transmit all the information required for performing specific edit processing to a CPU such as a wordprocessor, a user transmits (inputs) to the computer two types of information, i.e., information designating a place or an area in which an instruction is to be executed, and information as to the type of instruction which is to be executed in a designated place. Typically, information specifying the area in which an instruction is to be executed is designated by moving a screen cursor on a display, by means of a moving device such as a key cursor on a keyboard or a pointing cursor of a mouse or a track ball. On the other hand, information as to the type of instruction which is to be executed is designated by selecting an edit instruction key and the like (e.g., a delete key and an insert key) on the keyboard or on an icon (tradename). Such a system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 60-195632.
However, information specifying a place or an area in which an instruction is to be executed and information as to the type of an instruction must be input independently, resulting in a cumbersome operation for a user and a low input speed.